American Tower (NYSE:AMT) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com lowered shares of American Tower (NYSE:AMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Wednesday.

Several other brokerages also recently commented on AMT. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on American Tower from $225.00 to $236.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 15th. Wells Fargo & Company downgraded American Tower from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $245.00 to $230.00 in a research report on Thursday, October 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on American Tower from $240.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Mizuho boosted their target price on American Tower from $205.00 to $221.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on American Tower from $255.00 to $245.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nine have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $235.85.

American Tower Stock Performance

NYSE:AMT opened at $211.26 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $228.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $208.94. American Tower has a 52-week low of $170.46 and a 52-week high of $243.56. The firm has a market capitalization of $98.68 billion, a PE ratio of 89.14, a P/E/G ratio of 1.49 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.27, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.69.

American Tower (NYSE:AMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The real estate investment trust reported $0.89 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.45 by ($1.56). American Tower had a net margin of 10.05% and a return on equity of 22.01%. The business had revenue of $2.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.58 earnings per share. American Tower’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that American Tower will post 10.08 EPS for the current year.

American Tower Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, October 25th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, October 9th were given a dividend of $1.62 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 9th. This represents a $6.48 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.07%. American Tower’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 273.42%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On American Tower

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. NBT Bank N A NY raised its position in American Tower by 3.3% during the second quarter. NBT Bank N A NY now owns 1,693 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $329,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. CX Institutional raised its position in American Tower by 2.9% during the third quarter. CX Institutional now owns 1,933 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 54 shares during the period. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 2.3% during the second quarter. O Brien Greene & Co. Inc now owns 2,476 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $481,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the last quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 5.4% during the first quarter. CFO4Life Group LLC now owns 1,119 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $221,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Palumbo Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of American Tower by 1.6% during the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,714 shares of the real estate investment trust’s stock valued at $864,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the last quarter. 92.69% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

American Tower Company Profile

American Tower, one of the largest global REITs, is a leading independent owner, operator and developer of multitenant communications real estate with a portfolio of over 224,000 communications sites and a highly interconnected footprint of U.S. data center facilities.